Immoral

✍ Scribed by Freeman, Brian

• Publisher: Hachette UK; St. Martin's Press
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: Italian
• Weight: 202 KB
• Category: Fiction
• City: New York
• ISBN: 1429904453

✦ Synopsis

In a riveting debut thriller that has drawn comparisons to masters of the genre like Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly, Brian Freeman weaves obsession, sex, and revenge into a story that grips the reader with vivid characters and shocking plot twists from the first page to the last.

Lieutenant Jonathan Stride is suffering from an ugly case of déjà vu. For the second time in a year, a beautiful teenage girl has disappeared off the streets of Duluth, Minnesota—gone without a trace, like a bitter gust off Lake Superior. The two victims couldn’t be more different. First it was Kerry McGrath, bubbly, sweet sixteen. And now Rachel Deese, strange, sexually charged, a wild child. The media hounds Stride to catch a serial killer, and as the search carries him from the icy stillness of the northern woods to the erotic heat of Las Vegas, he must decide which facts are real and which are illusions. And Stride finds his own life changed forever by the secrets he uncovers. Secrets that stretch across time in a web of lies, death, and illicit desire. Secrets that are chillingly…immoral.

From Publishers Weekly

A Harlan Coban–esque murder/psychological suspense structure and some uninspired writing ("He saw urgency written in her face") add up to a mildly interesting but unsurprising thriller for first-timer Freeman. Called to investigate the disappearance of beautiful teenager Ruth Stoner, Duluth, Minn., police detective Lt. Jonathan Stride is haunted by the disappearance of another teen, Kerry McGrath, 14 months earlier. Stride's an honest, likable cop, full of angst over the cancer death of his beloved wife. He has a great working relationship with diminutive partner Maggie Bei, who's been in love with him for years. As Stride and Mags investigate, the only aspect of the case that becomes clear is that everyone involved with the crime—the victim, her family and her friends—is guilty of something. Tweezing apart these strands of guilt and trying to connect them to the missing Ruth occupies Stride for more than three years. Finally, in an extended denouement, the pieces fall into place, and Stride is able to solve not only the mysteries of both Ruth and Kelly, but mend his own fractured life as well. BOMC and Literary Guild main selections; Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild alternates. (Sept.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

Freeman’s debut, which Bookspan selected as International Book of the Month, resounded with its critics. His is a highly intricate story, veering with sharp turns and switchbacks. In fact, his acrobatic plot may be excessively so, overindulging in too many clever flips and flops. No doubt, his prose can be worthy cause for wincing ( "Tight black jeans, the kind you need a knife to cut yourself out of"), but Freeman paints the requisite cold, gray atmospheric tones for a tale of murder, sex, and intrigue. For an old-school visceral ride of thrills better than most, and for an introduction to a strong, new character, Immoral is a pleasurable foray into the shadows of immorality.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

✦ Subjects

FICTION -- Thrillers -- General